


Who's Gonna Hold You Down (When You Shake?)

by lottielovebuzz



Category: Poldark (TV 2015), Poldark - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - World War I, Angst, Death, F/M, Falling In Love, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Build, Slow Burn, War, Work In Progress, World War I
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 09:26:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4299495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lottielovebuzz/pseuds/lottielovebuzz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain Ross Poldark leaves Cornwall for the western front in the summer of 1915. Over the course of the war, his father dies and his betrothed Elizabeth, believing him to be dead, marries his cousin Francis. He throws himself into military life to cope, even volunteering to lead an offensive against the German lines. His unit is hit by a major explosive, knocking him unconscious. When he wakes up he finds himself being tended to by a kind nurse named Demelza</p><p>BASED OFF <a href="http://princessofpoldark.tumblr.com/post/122868602981/au-meme-ww1-poldark-captain-ross-poldark">THIS POST</a> BY <a href="http://princessofpoldark.tumblr.com">PRINCESSOFPOLDARK</a></p><p> </p><p>  <b>ABANDONED</b></p>
            </blockquote>





	Who's Gonna Hold You Down (When You Shake?)

Ross stares at the words on the letter, fighting back the tears that sting his gaze; that causes a film to cover his eyes and blur his vision. He doesn't need to see the words that are written, however, for he's been staring at the letter for nearly five minutes straight, imprinting the words to memory in an attempt to decipher the hidden meaning - surely there must be a hidden meaning. 

He blinks once, twice, letting the tears fall onto paper and smudge the ink. He wipes his face on the back of his hand, taking away the wetness of his eyes as he reads again:

_My darling Ross , _

_They tell me there is no point in writing this letter ; that the war has claimed so many good men, and that, because we have not heard from you in so long, it has claimed you too… but I know in my heart that is not true. I know that you live, Ross, and I know that it is my duty to tell you of the recent events that have befallen Nampara and Trenwith. _

_Firstly , I shall offer you the worse news. Your father has passed away. I was by his side, so I can say with one-hundred-percent certainty that he did not suffer. I doubt that will ease your feelings, but know that it is true. He has been buried alongside your mother as he has always wished for. I truly am sorry that I need to pass this information on over letter, rather than face to face as I wished. _

Ross grinds the heel of his palm into his eyes. He and his father were never that close. Not out of dislike, but things just drifted apart after his mother passed away. Ross' mood spiralled downwards and he got into trouble - he started drinking more, started gambling and just didn't care. Not until… he shakes head. He can't think of her. Not with the other piece of news his cousin had to share. 

_Secondly , I have to break more bad news to you. Of course, to everyone else I gather it would be considered delightful news. Marriage is always a happy thing, and in times like this, it's the only light we get… but I know that will not be the case for you. _

_Elizabeth and Francis were married on the 3 rd of November. She tried to remain strong after the officer came to our door and told us you were missing in action. But she is not like me, cousin, she was not made for the life of a spinster. And whilst times are changing, they would not change quick enough for her. _

_I am truly sorry , but try and be happy for them… for they are happy. _

_I wish to see you home safe soon , Ross. Even if I do not know when that will be. _

_This war seems like it will never end.  _

_But I pray every night that it will.  _

_Your loving and faithful cousin , _

_Verity. x_

The paper crumples in his hands as his grasp tightens, clenching into a fist before he lets out a shout and throws the damn thing away from him. He was MIA for a month! How could she move on so quickly; how could his _family_ presume him dead in such a short time? Did they have no hope? Did no-one except Verity wish him home safely? 

'Damn them all.' He hisses as he aims a kick for the cot that he was forced to sleep in night after night, whilst they lounged about in their featherbeds, getting waited on by servants and blissfully ignoring the bloodshed. _Damn them all_. 

'Cap'n?' A voice calls from the doorway and he turns to see his young soldier-servant, Jim, standing with a worried expression on his face. 'Everythin' all right? We're due departin' in ten minutes.' 

 _Ah yes, returning to England on a hopeless recruitment drive. Come on kids, join the war and get blown to pieces!_ Ross rolls his eyes before he turns back to Jim, 'I'm fine. All my bags ready?' The young lad nods, and Ross manages a tight smile. 'We're going nowhere near Cornwall, that's correct?' 

'Aye, Cap'n. We've just to make the rounds of the north, tryin' t'get as many recruits as we can.' 

Ross nods his head, the smile falling off his face almost as soon as it was placed there. He reaches over and grabs his coat off the back of his chair, shrugging into it and sending Jim a glare when he takes an instinctive step forward to assist him. 

He tried to tell them that the didn't need a soldier-servant but they were insistent. _You're a Captain now, Poldark, you need to start acting like one if you ever want to gain the respect of your men._ Ross felt like punching the man in the face. He was never going to get the respect of his men by behaving like that - by having a _servant_ following him around. These were young men, farm boys, servants themselves, who came to war for the "glory" they would receive nowhere else. 

Except they've now come to realise that no-one will ever remember their name, and that the glory they sought was just another tale fabricated by the likes of Ross.

If he wanted the respect of his men, he wasn't going to earn it by acting like a pompous ass - he just needed to show them that he understood that they had been tricked and lied to, but taking it out on him wasn't going to make a bit of a difference. They needed to steer that hate and loathing towards the bastards trying to invade their homes… and only when the war was won, could they go back to hating men like Ross. 

 _We all bleed the same and we all die the same, and out here, all that hate would be wasted,_ he had told them, and it had got him only silence in return… but it had earned him the acceptance, he knew. He could see the shift in their eyes. 

'Good.' Ross turns back to Jim and offers the lad a smile. 'The sooner we get out there, the sooner we get back here.' 

'Don't you wan' t'return t'your family, sir?' Jim questions as he steps aside to let Ross pass, falling into step beside him as soon as he can. He stands a few inches shorter than Ross and is all gangly limbs, but Ross suspects that's more to do with his age of eighteen years than anything else. 

It made him gag when he thought of how young these men were. _Too young for war._ But the army took them anyway. They needed the bodies and didn't care what age they were. He's sure he's seen people younger than they claim to be. Young boys drawn in by the tales of glory, lying to be eighteen just to see the war - to _win_ the war. 

Now, they were stuck here, realising that there would be no glory, and that there was a chance they weren't even going to win the war, or even survive it. God. It makes him sick. 

'There is nothing for me back home.' Ross snarls, the words coming out more fiercer than he intended. He knows that Jim meant it in the best way, but it still stung thinking about it. His mother was dead, he had grown used to that. But now his father was gone, and Elizabeth, the one shred of light in his dark fucking world has gone off and married his cousin. 

_'I will wait for you.' Elizabeth had whispered in his ear, her soft, delicate and plump lips brushing against the shell of his ear. He had pressed a tiny ring into his hand. She used to wear it on her index finger but he could only fit it on his pinky. 'Wear it and remember me; remember the way I smile and look and taste, and come home to my waiting arms, Ross Poldark.'_

_Ross had wrapped his arms around her waist then and kissed her with all the strength he could muster; a kiss that left both of them breathless and hungry for more._ More that she promised she would give him when he returned… now he would never feel her bare skin beneath his fingertips, never kiss every inch of her body. 

That's Francis' job now. It would never be his.

'How long did they say we needed to spend here?' Ross questions as they make their way over to the aeroplane waiting to fly them back to England. 

'Only a month, I believe, sir.' Jim offers and Ross nods his head. 

One month. He can do that. And then he will be back to the trenches and Elizabeth, Francis and the whole damn Poldark pack will be nothing more than a distant memory. 

**Author's Note:**

> enjoying this fic?? I'd love you forever if you bought me a coffee!! ko-fi.com/cahwrites
> 
> This is for fun and so I don't really want to do much research for it, so if anything is historically inaccurate, please forgive me... but yeah... 
> 
> Comment, bookmark and leave kudos please! :D
> 
> i’m on [tumblr](http://runningwithshewolves.tumblr.com) and [facebook](https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lottielovebuzzs-Fanfiction/154475354679423)! come and say hi!!


End file.
